Ophiuchus
by xxXblackberryXxx
Summary: Your name is NEIDRI AMPHAS. You have this FREAKY BLOOD THING that makes it so you have to hide from THOSE GOD DAMN HIGH BLOODS. You were born on the 29TH OF FEBRUARY, which makes you KIND OF A FREAK. But that's okay. Because you're the 13TH SIGN. So you're KIND OF NECESSARY. This is your story.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all. I noticed that there were no stories involving the thirteenth sign, Ophiuches, so I decided to give it a go.

Please tell me what you think!

Pchooo~ BERRY AWAY!

* * *

Behind the thick foliage of a late summer tree, an arrow shot outwards, impaling a small rat-like lusus to the nearby tree with a spray of cyan blood. The arrow was threaded and pulled once more, golden-orange eyes narrowing as a larger deer lusus was spotted.

Breathing deeply, the bowstring was pulled taught, the arrow begging to be released. The figure's arms grew taught, slight muscles showing through the skin of frail arms, pulling ashen flesh tight against ribs and hips.

"Shut up, fuckass!" sharp ears picked up the far-off sound of a male's gruff voice. Freezing in place, the figure allowed its bow to go lax for a moment.

The deer ran.

"You're just mad because I'm right KK. Tho you thut up." The figure slinked back further into the trees as it heard another voice, this one with a slight lisp, closer to its tree.

"Chill out motherfuckers, we just have to find Eq-bro's arrow. It'll be easy as sopor pie." A third voice made itself known shortly before the owner did.

The first thing noticeable about the figure were his long, rather goat-like horns that resided in a mass of dark hair that looked in dire need of a brushing. The figure was tall and lanky with long limbs,garbed in what looked like spotted pajama pants and a shirt that appeared to be a size or two too large for him from the way it hung off of the male's skinny figure. The figure in the tree bit back a hiss as the male on the ground turned to look back at his companions, the indigo symbol on his shirt identifying him as a high blood. The figure chose to ignore the garish face paint adorning his dark grey skin.

Eyes narrowed, the figure watched as two other figures, both obviously male, made their way into the small clearing. The first, or rather, the second was also fairly tall, and sported a double set of horns atop fairly short hair. It appeared he had glasses from the gleam of smooth plastic behind his pointed ears, but it was rather difficult for the figure to tell the size or shape from its position. The t-shirt he was wearing seemed slightly too large for him as well, yet it fit better than the high blood's did.

"Here it is. The fuck ass actually hit something this time." The gruff voice suddenly had an owner. This troll was noticeably shorter than the other two, his slouched figure only accentuating that fact. Two small, nubby horns were barely visible in his dark, somewhat curly hair as he yanked the arrow out of the tree, cursing loudly as cyan blood splattered on his black turtleneck when the rat lusus fell forward with a thud.

Turning to his companions, whatever words that formed on his scowling lips fell on deaf ears. The figure had taken a sharp intake of breath as he turned, the grey cancer symbol barred to the world in front of him. The figure had heard a rumor that grey symbols meant mutants. As soon as the figure saw this, it had leaned forward sharply, only to have its horns tap the branch in front of them quite loudly. The hollow thunk rang though the clearing caused the group to go silent as the figure cursed, barely loud enough to be heard.

But it was loud enough.

The arrow in the crab boys' hands dropped to the ground as he growled at the noise, quickly retrieving a twin set of sickles out of his strife syllabus. The dual-horned boy whipped around as well, facing the tree, a hand on his dual colored glasses as red and blue energy crackled in the air. The high blood only let out a lazy smile.

"C'mon on out, spying motherfucker." He demanded in a lazy sort of way, letting his hands find their way to his pockets. The figure pursed its lips, staying completely still as it observed the three trolls before it. Clenching its teeth and biting its lip, it descended, landing lightly on its bare feet before glaring up at the three, pulling its loaded bow taught once more.

* * *

Karkat POV

Fuck that stupid fucker Equius. He just _had_ to go off and shoot an arrow into the gog damn middle of nowhere _just _to show off his 'strength' or some shit. But fuck that, the matter at hand is way more important.

The girl before us had her arrow pointed at Sollux, a clear death wish. She would deserve it anyways; she _was _hiding in the gog damn trees after all, the spying fuck ass.

"Whoa, calm down sis, we don't want to hurt you." Gamzee's voice broke my train of thought. "I'm Gamzee motherfuckin Maraka, pleased to make your motherfucking acquaintance." I nearly laughed as she swiftly changed targets and glared at the juggalo with a frown.

She refused to talk, so he continued, that dopey smile never leaving his face. As he explained that we were out here because we needed to get into the game, but we still had to wait. I took a chance to look her over.

She was short, that much was apparent straight away. She looked frail too, her scrawny body displaying her ribs and hip bones. Hell, I bet even Nepeta had a few inches and pounds on her. Her skin was a light ash color, not entirely unlike most of us, but different that the dark skin of trolls like Equius and Gamzee.

Her horns though, they were a sight to behold. They were about as long as Gamzee's were, give or take a few inches, but were unlike any others I had ever seen. They were paler than most trolls and pronged in several places, very similar to the deer lusus that roamed the forest around here.

Gamzee must have said something to piss her off, because she suddenly bared her teeth and pulled her bow even tighter with a hiss. They were small teeth, the canines barely elongated, though they looked very sharp in contrast to the rest of her fairly rounded teeth.

Something else he said must have pacified her, because she let the bow go lax, as she caught the faygo he threw at her and began to talk. I watched her dark grey lips move rather than hear her words as she talked to Gamzee. I idly noticed the small freckles on her face. She must be weird like Kanaya and spend time in the sun. Suddenly, she turned to me. I was caught off guard by her blazing orange eyes, so I did what I always do.

I glared.

"Give me back my arrow." She demanded, her soft voice cracking slightly from what seemed like lack of use. That spying fucker wasn't getting jack shit from me, no matter how harmless she seemed.

"Come and get it fuckass." I snapped back without thinking. An arrow zipped by my head without warning. Growling, I lunged forward, sickles aimed for the smooth column of flesh that provided her with the ability to breathe.

* * *

Sollux POV

I frowned, but removed my hand from my glasses as she pointed her arrow at me. I forced myself to calm down; she was probably just looking for food after all.

I stared her down as Gamzee talked, taking in the sight of the small, frail troll. Long hair fell down her back in a wavy black mass, not unlike Aradia's did, though hers looked much messier. Her shirt was ripped to rest just above her abdomen, letting her ribs show whenever she moved. Tight black pants rested low on her hips and ended just below her ankle, letting her hip bones protrude. Looking at her pants, I noticed that she lacked shoes. With a frown, I noticed that she was covered in what appeared to be dirt and dried blood, whether it was hers or not remained a mystery to me.

Being the closest, I could also see that here were several spots of discoloration marring the skin of her arms and torso, as well as what seemed to be a set of scars on her stomach. Noticing that the way I was examining her was essentially checking her out, I chocked a bit in the back of my throat, a mustard-colored blush rising up my neck.

As she looked at Gamzee, I took in her face. It was fairly rounded, making me believe that she couldn't be older than five sweeps. Her eyes were rather large and round, and a rather dark orangey gold color, which baffled me. Only older trolls had dark eyes, but then again, it could just be malnourishment.

Moving my line of vision from her eyes, I noticed that her bangs only swept over half of her face before curling around her jawbone. Her ears were also rather large, something that went well with her deer-like horns.

I took a step back as she barred her teeth at Gamzee, holding back a laugh. She looked more like a frightened kitten than a deadly lion as she let out a hiss. Leaning against a tree, I analyzed her symbol, one that I had only heard of a handful of times. The sideways oval with a straight vertical line through it was splayed across her small chest in grey.

Sighing as she caught the Faygo bottle, I began to mess with my mobile device, seeing what I could dig up on the symbol. Before long, the defined 'thunk' of an arrow hitting it's target sounded next to over, I spotted an arrow embedded up to the shaft in a tree barely three feet away. I sighed, glaring at her before realizing that Karkat was charging her.

Damn, I would have liked to ask her about her symbol.

* * *

Gamzee POV

"Whoa, calm down sis, we don't want to hurt you." I told the strange troll as she fell from the trees and pointed her arrow at Sollux, which was never a good move.

"I'm Gamzee motherfuckin Maraka, pleased to make your motherfucking acquaintance." I tried to get her to chill, but she didn't even budge from her offensive position.

"You deaf sis?" I finally asked after about a minute of complete silence from her.

She glared and turned to aim at me, her mouth set in a frown and eyes blazing. I smiled at her. Her anger was like a motherfucking miracle.

"We just need some food and shit so we can get to the motherfuckin game when the time is right." I tried to explain as she frowned, pulling her bow tighter.

"Listen sis, let's have some motherfuckin miracles all up in here and get some friendship on." She looked less pissed, but not enough to stop aiming at me.

"What's your name sis?" I asked somewhat gently, smile never leaving my face. She bared her teeth and hissed at me, making her notice how cracked her lips were. I frowned, she must be hungry and thirsty if her body was any indication.

I laughed quietly, watching the bright colors of my captchalog swirl around my retina for a minute before reaching in and grabbing a bottle of Faygo. Cracking the cap before screwing it back on, I smiled at her.

"Here sis, seems like you need something to drink." I tossed the bottle at her in a gentle ark and she caught it, still managing to keep a grip on her bow as she opened it and took a sip. She looked grateful for a moment. Miraculous.

Screwing the cap back on, she tossed it back, which I sighed at, I had wanted her to keep it. Smiling at her as I put it back, I asked again. "So, name sis?"

"Neidri Amphas." She spoke gently, her voice cracking bit. I guessed that she hadn't talked in quite a while. Wouldn't be too weird for a troll that seemed to like the sun. She fiddled with her bow again, but I continued to smile.

"How old are you? I'm six miraculous motherfuckin sweeps old." I smiled lazily at her.

"I." She paused a moment, looking up with an apprehensive look, probably deciding whether or not to tell the truth. "I just turned six sweeps." She admitted, shuffling her feet. So she was pretty young, about Nepeta's age.

Silence consumed the conversation for a few moments before I broke it, noticing that she was glaring at , was she glaring at my shirt? Yep. Must have a thing against purple.

"What is that symbol on your motherfuckin shirt? I've never seen it before. Fuckin miraculous." I spoke with a smile as she glared at the symbol on my shirt.

"It…It's..uh..nothing." She spoke quietly before she was silent once more. Suddenly, she turned to Kar-bro before I could comment, demanding her arrow.

She shot at him when he refused and I laughed, motherfucking miracles were about to take place.

* * *

Neidri POV

"Shit." I murmured under my breath, spinning my body away from the angry crab just in time to avoid his sickle. Jumping backwards unsteadily once more, I let out a low hiss. I glared at the high blood as he laughed.

Pompous bastard probably poisoned the soda he gave me, dirty fucking high blood. I growled to myself as I dodged sloppily again, just barely getting out of the way.

I guess the rumors that grey was for mutant bloods was untrue, if seeing the way he acted like a pompous high blood was any indication. I frowned as I tried to thread an arrow through the bow, only to have it cut in half by the crab's sickle.

This gog damn bow is going to get me nowhere. I threw it at the crab, hitting him square in the nose and disorienting him for a moment.

Looking to the side, I bit back a smile as the double-horned one face palmed at my awesome misuse of my bowkind. The crab lunged at me again, but I had nothing to hit him with. My thoughts finally caught up with me and I came to a sicking revelation.

I did _not_ think this shit through.

Now I have no weapon, I'm weak and the crab is back. I resisted the urge to face palm. In my moment of thought, the crab had gained ground and was lunging foreward, sickles pointed upwards.

Eyes widening, I shot a bare foot outwards, hitting him square in the chest, barely even knocking him back an inch. Quickly retracting my foot, I jumped backwards just in time to avoid a sickle to my Achilles tendon.

"Well, that was unfortunate." I mused outwardly as I dodged another high swipe, only to get a sickle to the side. He smiled as he hooked the sharp tip deeper into my side before pulling it towards upwards and sideways, slicing my ash skin open like it was paper. Letting out a sharp cry, I cursed eyes wide as a hand shot to my midsection, pressing hard into the new cut.

Bright orange blood began to spill out of the laceration. The liquid, thick from lack of food and water spilled and slipped past my fingers like they were pebbles in a stream. The crab dropped his sickles with a clatter. I backed away shakily, ignoring the shocked face of the crab.

Moving my hand from the fresh cut, I spared a glance downwards, gritting my teeth at the orange coating my flesh from just above my hip to about an inch shy of my bellybutton. I involuntarily whimpered when I pressed my hand back into my side. Looking up, I remembered who I was around.

Giving a rather deer-caught-in-headlights look to the high blood, I bolted. I knew what he could...what he _would_ do to a mutant like me.

* * *

No one POV

Eyes wide, Karkat dropped his weapons and took off after the orange blooded troll. Never before had he met another mutant blood and he would be damned before he let this one get away.

Snapping out of their confused and somewhat shocked states, Gamzee and Sollux took off after Karkat, Gamzee easily catching up while Sollux had a noticeably more difficult time.

Her hair whipped around her as she panted, the pain from her side burning more intensely with every step she took. Staggering and tripping over a root protruding from the ground, she let out a whimper as her vision began to blur when the ground rushed up to meet her.

She cursed herself for not hunting earlier as she dug her fingers into the soft earth and pulling herself forward as much as she could before shuddering at the feeling of a rock slipping past the open wound in her side.

Hearing the footsteps and shouts of the trolls behind her she hissed, trying to stand once more. Gripping the bark of a tree nearby, she managed to pull herself to a standing position. She stumbled a few feet before hunger and pain brought her to her hands and knees. She heaved, feeling like she was about to vomit even though there was nothing in her stomach.

Karkat twisted his right foot to the side, skidding to a stop when he saw the fallen troll girl. He was followed closely by Gamzee and shortly by a wheezing Sollux. Panting, he attempted to regain his breath as he walked towards the fallen girl, placing a gentle hand on her back.

He frowned as she tried to squirm away and fell, her blood seeping into the dry earth. He attempted to move her hand from her side to see how bad the damage was, only to receive a low hiss followed by a soft whimper. She was obviously in pain and needed help. Gamzee walked slowly to the dirty, hissing, whimpering mess of a troll, gently crouching before her.

Sliding his shirt off, he managed to get her arm away just enough to push the fabric into the cut, only to be rewarded with a weak hiss. Gently wrapping his arms around her, he picked her up in one smooth movement. He cradled the bleeding troll against his chest, noting that her eyes were glazed over and her pupils dilated. Poor thing was like a sick animal. He let out a light chuckle.

"Let us help." A gentle voice spoke the last words she heard before she let the wave of darkness consume her senses.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long guys! I just started school again, so updates may be a bit slow.

Sorry that nothing very interesting has happened so far, but I'm trying to set the mood and introduce Neidri. So fear not! There will be random plot shit in the near future!

Pchooooo~ BERRY AWAY!(If anyone has a better idea for an ending thing, please tell me. This is just...pathetic.)

* * *

Neidri POV

It took a moment to realize, but I was awake. The first thing that I processed was that everything was white. Or was it cream? I don't know.

I don't care.

My mouth tastes like metal. I tiredly blinked, tracing the tubes in my arm up to the bags of fluid hanging on a tall stand. What was that? I stared at the bag filled with a thick, orangey-brown liquid. Ignoring it, I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, finally coming to my senses.

_Where the fuck am I?_

I sat up, only to cringe at the sharp pain that sliced into my abdomen. I hissed, holding my side in pain, expecting to feel the hot flesh of a wound, but my fingers were met with a rough cotton blend.

_What the?_

I blinked in confusion, looking down at the overly-large shirt hanging off of my small frame. Blinking once more, I stared at the purple Capricorn symbol splayed across the chest of the shirt.

I tried to stand, only to fall backwards less than a minute later, nausea and delirium taking over my senses. I brought my hands up to my head, slowly massaging my temples and taking a few deep breaths, waiting for the feeling of weakness to pass.

Holding my head, I slowly remembered what happened yesterday. I was hunting. And then, and then, those three trolls came. And then the high blood gave me soda. Then I got hurt. I think. I must have.

What happened after that?

I don't know, but I still had no idea where I was, nor did I know where my weapons were. I needed to get out before the crab and the high blood found me awake.

I sighed, releasing my head before sliding out of the bed slowly, allowing the too large shirt to fall just above my knees and slide off one of my shoulders. Shrugging the shirt back up to rest comfortably on my shoulders again, I tried to walk away from the bed.

A tugging sensation in my arm made me look back in confusion. The IV in my arm had stretched the pliable ashen skin and refused to budge, hindering my movements. Hissing, I grabbed the tubes, pulling them out roughly. I face palmed when my arm started to leak a bright orange.

My thought process has not been the most sound as of late.

Spying a roll of bandages on a counter nearby, I tied up my arms, stopping the blood that began to slide down my arm. I sighed, throwing the leftover bandages back onto the bed. Scanning the room once more, I growled. My clothes were nowhere to be seen and there were no weapons anywhere.

If only I could find a scalpel or something. That would be absolutely perfect. I searched the small room, opening cabinets and drawers, only to come up empty handed. I growled, something I had been doing a lot lately. Cocking my hip and running a hand through my soft hair, I….

Wait. Soft?

I brought a long lock of semi-curled hair up to my face, seeing that the strands were smooth and shiny. I was thoroughly confused; my hair hadn't been soft in quite a long while.

Ever since my lusus died, it had been hard for me to find the time to properly care for myself with all the hunting and running that needed to be done. Looking down at my hands, I frowned. My once long and dirty nails were now filed down and cleaned meticulously.

Looking up my arms, I noticed the dirt and blood that once stained my ash skin was now gone, leaving the bruises and scars that currently mar my skin in full view. I frowned, perching myself back on the edge of the bed to observe my smooth and shaved legs .Lifting my shirt to poke at my clean stomach and neatly stitched side, I realized something fairly disturbing.

_Some asshole saw me naked._

At least they had the common sense to put shorts on me. That part I was grateful for, o matter how short the shorts were.

Growling in aggravation, I stood and made her way to the door. Reaching for the silver doorknob, I forced myself to pause and press my ear to the door, listening with suppressed breaths for even the smallest indication that anyone was outside.

I heard nothing but stayed still for another moment before turning the silver knob slowly, opening the door a few inches. I slid out, cursing softly as my horns banged against the door frame. Opening the door a bit wider, I successfully got out of the small room.

Padding down the short hall, I dodged around a corner before continuing my trek onwards. I continued twisting around corners carefully until I was sure I was lost. I heard voices coming down the opposite end of the hall and panicked inside of my own mind, looking desperately for an escape.. Seeing an air open duct up above, I scrambled upwards, just barely managing to get up into the vent in time.

It seemed that there were three figures, one whom I recognized immediately. It was one of the boys from yesterday, the dual horned one. Looking downwards, I took note of his dual-colored oval glasses. Being in a closer proximity gave me a chance to observe his face. It was fairly rough, but smooth with no facial hair save for his sideburns.

Moving onto the next one, the girl, I noticed that she was a sea-dweller. She had a sunny, open face adorned with goggles and a bright smile that showed off her sharp teeth. Her ashen skin had an almost magenta tint to it, but that may have just been the blush on her cheeks as she talked to the dual-horned troll. She seemed to be quite a bit bigger and more curvaceous than I was, though that was not very hard to do.

She was admittedly very pretty with her long hair and colorful clothes. Even if the magenta symbol on her chest was ignored, she seemed to be very well off, her golden accessories shining in the dim light of the hallway. Her horns were nothing spectacular though, being of average length and curving away from each other at the ends.

Moving my vision from her, I noticed that the third troll was also a sea dweller, though he seemed to have a much worse personality than the female. His face, though it was a classical sort of attractive, was set into a hard frown and adorned with thick framed glasses. He was dressed flamboyantly, with his stripped pants and scarf over a black sweater bearing a purple sign.

I took a sparring glance at the purple cape trailing behind him as I took in his odd horns and hair. I wouldn't like to admit it out loud, but I did like his horns. They were a tad longer than most trolls' and were bent into a sharp zig zag near the end. His hair was also quite attractive in an odd sort of way, being pitch black with a thick purple streak in the front.

While I was observing them, I nearly failed to listen to what they were saying. They were speaking of visiting me, or at least that was what the bubbly sea dweller was saying. I cursed under my breath as I waited for them to pass.

Wasting no time, I scrambled out of the air vent as soon as I could no longer see them, breaking out into a sprint as soon as my feet hit the cold floor once more.

* * *

Karkat POV

Walking down the hall with my hands jammed in my pockets and a scowl on my face, I just barely heard the sound of footsteps down the hall. With a lack of anything better to do, I looked down the hall, seeing the deer-like horns of the mutant blood disappear around a corner.

What the ever-loving _fuck_ was that asshole doing out of her room?

I growled, stalking down the hall to follow her. Turning the corner, I just barely saw a flash of hair before it vanished around the corner. I scowled, picking up my pace a bit, hoping to catch her running down the next hallway.

Seeing only another flash of hair, I sighed, picking up my pace a bit more. It's needless to say that I was surprised to yield the same results. It seemed that she was getting faster at the same pace I was, and I soon found myself bolting after what pieces of her I could see.

After what seemed like an eternity, she had finally stopped at the doorway of the kitchen area, her body tense. Looking past her, it was easy to assume that she was looking for a way out ad thought that Kanaya's studio was the way.

Poor little fuckass.

Though there was light filtering though the glass doors, it was producked from a fake sun. The deer girl had no escape. I let out an inaudible sigh and walked forward silently until I was only a foot behind her and clamped my hand down on her shoulder.

"What the ever-loving fuck are you doing out of bed?"

No one POV

Neidri almost gave herself whiplash from how quickly she turned around. Instead of seeing another face, her eyes were met with the somewhat familiar grey Cancer symbol of one Karkat Vanatas.

Neidri hissed, backing away as he tried to grab her again, ready to lash out with her short nails and sharp teeth. Growling, Karkat advanced on her, backing her into a corner as she growled and hissed at him every time he tried to tell her she wasn't well enough to be out of bed.

"Listen, fuckass, you need to be in be-" Karkat's strained, angry voice was cut off when Neidri's hand shot out and hit him across the face, leaving a barely visible set of three scrapes across the bridge of his nose.

Eyes alight with fury, Karkat gabbed her wrists in a bruising grip with his hands in an attempt to subdue her. Ignoring her struggles, Karkat shifted so both hands were in one wrist so he could grab one of his sickles.

Before he could so much as touch his strife syllabus, Neidri let out a sharp yowl and ripped her hands from his grip, leaving a few scratched from his sharp nails kissing the tender flesh of her wrists.

She attempted to dash by the male, only to be caught around the waist and let out another shriek. Kicking her feet backwards, she managed to kick the boy in between the legs, giving her a chance to escape as he doubled over in pain. Before she even got a foot away, Karkat's hand slid around her skinny ankle, tugging her downwards to meet him on the floor.

Leting out another screech, bright orange tears began to bead at the corners of her bright eyes as she tried to claw at the boy's iron grip. Her yells carried around the moderately small base, causing other trolls to make their way to the kitchen to see just what was going on.

"I won't let you and your fucking high blood friends kill me!" Neidri screeched, trying to kick his hand away from her foot. By this point, all of her struggling had began to pop the neat stitches in her abdomen, and a pool of orange blood was seeping through the Capricorn shirt resting on her small body.

"Karkat!" A feminine voice screeched, prompting the release of the young girl's ankle. "Eridan, do something!" The voice continued, followed by a string of complaints.

"What, uhhh, happened?" A meek voice chimed in.

Seeing her chance, Neidri stood shakily and bolted for the light spilling through the glass door, only to fall to her knees after the first few steps. Breathing hard, the small troll was scooped into the arms of a stranger.

"Are you, uh, okay?" The stranger spoke meekly as he cradled her small form in his lean arms.

Looking up, Neidri was met with a pair of curious, boyish eyes. This particular male had darker skin than most of the other trolls that she had encountered so far and very large horns. Sprouting from his temples, they stretched outwards in a thick line for a foot or two before tapering off and curving upwards in a near perfect right angle, much like a bull's horns would. His feathery hair was trimmed into a short mohawk that was brushed back neatly from his face, only a few stands falling on his forehead when he looked down at her.

Groaning, Neidri dropped her head on his chest, taking note of the brow Taurus symbol on his t-shirt before the crab came up to her again and she was passed into his much sturdier arms. Hissing, she struggled against his hold weakly.

"I smell oranges." Neidri looked up slowly to see a fairly short and rather mundane troll.

Dressed simply in a black tee with the Libra symbol in teal on the front and somewhat loose black jeans, only the girl's vivid red shades gave any real splash of color to her entire person. Her horns were fairly short, pointy and uninteresting in Neidri's opinion, as well as her short, sleek hair. Letting her eyes rest on the dragon-headed cane for a moment, Neidri looked back to see two others coming into the small space.

"What the fuck KK? We were thupposed to keep her thafe."

The Gemini and Capricorn entered the room at a somewhat rushed pace, both looking somewhat worn out.

"She was trying to run away." The crab snapped back at the Gemini forcefully, holding the small girl closer to his chest involuntarily.

"There's too much orange here. I'm getting Kanaya." The Libra frowned, holding her nose as if offended as she left.

The Capricorn frowned.

* * *

Neidri POV

The Capricorn walked towards me, a frown on his face. What was his name again?

Garmez? No. that wasn't right.

Muluca? No, that wasn't right either.

Gam…Gamzee?

That sounded about right, I mused, too tired to fight my fate. He was here now, crouching down to my level and staring me in the eye, stroking my hair in what I supposed was a comforting manner.

"Why did ya motherfuckin up an' run sis?" He asked gently, his hand going lower down my hair to twirl a few strands around his finger before going back up to pet my head again.

"You're going to cull me." I stated simply, my moth set into a hard line. He was playing stupid, and it was starting to piss me off.

His hand stopped.

"Why would I do that? Life is a motherfuckin' miracle." He spoke softly, giving me a confused look. I sighed at him, not believing a word out of his mouth.

"You're a high blood, I'm a mutant. If your kind killed my lusus, why would they spare me? And before you answer with some nonsense about miracles, I'll give you the answer. They would not. So just get it over with and save me the drama." My voice cracked badly during my little spiel and I felt like there was now magma running down my throat. I sighed, glaring at him and then the sea dwellers in the room, knowing full well that they would take part in my culling.

A soft laugh came from the high blood and I just turned my face the other way, determined not to show my fear to him. A large, clawed hand reached out to grasp my chin, making me face him once more. I hissed low in my throat as I stared into his eyes. They were just beginning to show the purple of his blood, making me realize that he wasn't lying. He was also young, but that didn't change his high blood status.

"Sis, if we were out to cull all the motherfuckin lower blood types, would Tavbro be here?" He asked me, gesturing over to the Taurus to my right. I shook my head and he smiled.

"But why would you save me?" I asked, suppressing a cough from the fire in my throat. Gamzee just smiled again.

"There's someone here who could relate to your motherfuckin case, and he might motherfuckin think it was a miracle we found ya sis." I gave Gamzee's cryptic message a confused look as he tapped my nose.

As soon as I opened my mouth to speak again, The fire in my throat rached my lungs, making me cough. My body shook with the stress and I was taken out of the Cancer's arms and put on the counter. I was confused until a ringed hand thrust a glass of water in front of me.

Looking at the water dumbly, I took it, looking up to see the wavy horned troll from before. The poor guy looked exhausted if the bags beneath his eyes were any indication.

"It's wwater. You drink it, stupid landwweller." I frowned at the boy, opening my moth to mock the way his words seemed to fluxuate in pitch. Before I could even think of what to say, a sooth, feminine hand came up to cover my mouth.

Looking up, I saw a very pretty troll shooshing me as she gently reminded me of the water in my hands. Drinking slowly, I examined her as she pulled up my shirt to survey the damage I had caused…well, re-caused, and found her even prettier than what I first thought.

She was paler that the rest of the trolls, a trait usually aligned with the sun-loving trolls, though her skin was smooth and devoid of freckles and scars, unlike my own. Her face was made of soft angles and gentle curves, giving her a very mature look and making it difficult to tell how old she was.

Her eyes were almond shaped and framed by dark lashes and nicely shaped eyebrows. Following the line of her smooth nose, I realized that her lips were painted a jade color, something I found a bit odd, but very nice at the same time. Moving from her face, I took in her short, silky hair cut into a stylized bob. Her horns were very odd though, with one hooked and one perfectly straight.

She was dressed simply, and seeing her shirt made her horn formation make a lot more sense. Across the chest of her long-sleeved black shirt was they Virgo symbol in a vivid jade that matched her lips. Taking a moment to look at her long red skirt, I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts by her voice.

"You seemed to have only popped one or two stitches. It should be fine for the time being." She smiled, as I cocked my head at her drawn out articulation.

"If it would suit you, you might stay here. When Karkat, Sollux and Gamzee found you, you were in quite a state. Tell me, when was the last time you have eaten a proper meal?" She asked nicely enough, but that didn't stop the vivid orange blush from rushing to my face. She gave a sympathetic nod.

"I see. Would you like to stay here for a while? It is unlikely that you would stay alive for much longer out there." She smiled.

What she said would have usually pissed me off to no end, but the motherly concern in her voice calmed me before those thoughts could even begin to enter my mind. Looking at her, I paused, the words I wanted to say sticking in my throat.

Swallowing those words, I licked my lips and answered.

"I'll stay."


End file.
